Sophrology for Exams, Interviews and Big Moments

Sophrology became famous in Europe through sport. Ahead of the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, the Swiss doctor Raymond Abrezol was asked to prepare four Swiss skiers, and between them they came home with three medals. Abrezol went on to work with athletes in boxing, cycling, sailing, tennis, golf and many other sports.

Today sophrology is also offered to students in parts of France and Switzerland to help with exam stress, and people use it to prepare for interviews, auditions, presentations and other moments that matter. The approach is much the same in every case: learn to relax on demand, then rehearse the event in your mind until it feels familiar.

Why rehearsal can help

Imagining a performance in detail, often called mental rehearsal or imagery, is a common tool in sport psychology. Sophrology’s version has two parts.

First, you relax. A body scan and a few slow breaths help you reach a calm but focused state before you begin.

Second, you picture the event, a technique sophrologists call futurization. You imagine it step by step and in the first person: arriving, sitting down, reading the first question, answering calmly. A good rehearsal is realistic rather than perfect, so you also picture yourself handling a hiccup, such as a question you can’t answer straight away, and staying steady.

The aim isn’t to convince yourself that everything will go well. It’s to make the situation feel familiar, so that on the day your body has already “been there” in a calm state.

What we do and don’t know

Olympic medals make a good story, but they aren’t evidence. Research on sophrology specifically for exam stress is still thin, and much of what exists is small and uncontrolled. Broader research on breathing is a little further along: reviews summarized by the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health suggest that slow diaphragmatic breathing may help reduce stress, although the evidence is still preliminary.

Rehearsal also isn’t a substitute for preparation. Visualizing an exam won’t teach you the material. What it can do is help you show what you know.

A plan in three stages

1In the weeks before

Time: 10 minutes a day

Practice once a day, ideally at the same time:

1. Spend three minutes on a body scan from head to feet, letting each area soften as you breathe out.
2. Take a few slow breaths, making each out-breath longer than the in-breath.
3. Spend five minutes rehearsing the event. Picture the room, the light and the sounds. See yourself arriving in good time, sitting down, breathing calmly and starting work. Include one moment of difficulty, and see yourself pausing, breathing and moving on.
4. Finish with a few deeper breaths, then open your eyes.

If you’re new to sophrology, learn the basic techniques first with our 10-minute exercise for stress, then add the rehearsal.

2The night before

Time: 12 minutes

Don’t rehearse the exam again at bedtime. Instead, follow a wind-down routine such as our evening practice for sleep, and swap its “three good moments” step for a memory of a time you did something well: a test that went smoothly, a game you played well, a presentation people enjoyed. Recall it in detail, with all your senses, and notice the feeling of confidence in your body.

3On the day

Time: 1 to 2 minutes

Shortly before you begin, in your seat or somewhere quiet:

1. Put both feet flat on the floor and notice their contact with the ground.
2. Do one or two rounds of shoulder pumping: breathe in, lift and drop your shoulders a few times, then breathe out and let them fall. In a crowded room, simply lift your shoulders as you breathe in and let them drop as you breathe out.
3. Take three slow breaths with a long out-breath.
4. For a moment, recall the calm feeling from your rehearsals.

If your mind goes blank during the exam, put your pen down, breathe out slowly twice, feel your feet on the floor and move on to a question you can answer.

For parents and teachers

Calm is contagious. Practicing a short breathing exercise together can help, but keep it optional rather than another task to complete. Watch for signs that stress has gone beyond ordinary nerves, such as panic attacks, not eating or sleeping, or refusing to go to school, and talk to the school counselor or a doctor if you see them.

Sources

1. “Sophrology”, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026. Raymond Abrezol’s work with athletes and the use of sophrology in schools.
2. Manning-Schaffel V. What is sophrology, the latest stress-busting mindfulness trend? NBC News, 2018. Use of sophrology in schools in France and Switzerland.
3. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Relaxation techniques: what you need to know. Evidence on breathing exercises and stress.